crashes on a florida interstate, a series of fiery collisions leaves at least ten people dead and more than a dozen injured after smoke from a brushfire blanketed the highway. romney on a roll, with just two days to go before the florida primary, polls show him widening his lead over newt gingrich. jan crawford, dean reynolds and bob schieffer are tracking the cab datas. crackdown in oaklands, police arrest more than a hundred members of the occupy movement in a violent clash at city hall. and menu makeover in los angeles schools. bill whitaker tells us why more greens at lunchtime are making students see red. >> the healthier it get, the more disgusting it is. >> this is the captioning sponsored by cbs

this is the "cbs evening news." >> jeff: good evening, everyone, i'm jeff glor. we begin tonight with a massive accident on one of the nation's busiest highways. a series of crashes early this morning on interstate 75 in gainseville, florida. wreckage was strewn for nearly a mile in both directions. at least ten people are dead. drivers, it turns out were blinded by folk and smoke from a nearby brushfire. and tonight officials say that fire may have been a case of arson. nearly eight hours after the deadly pileups began, firefighters were still trying to put out the flames. the images from above even more dramatic. a hollowed out tractor-trailer still burning. behind that a white sedan under a pickup truck. it happened after a series of cars and trucks collided with each other just before 4 a.m. the drivers blinded by smoke from a nearby brushfire. >> we had a mixture of fog and smoke that combined and kind of laid into that area, made visibility a factor.

and we had a series of crashes that occurred both north and southbound. >> jeff: one driver told the gainseville sun she couldn't see anything. her car struck a guardrail. as she dialed 911 she said she heard as many as 15 crashes on both sides of the interstates. the smoke and flames were so thick rescuers said they found the injured only by listening for their cries for help. late this morning traffic was backed up for ten miles as investigators worked through the wreckage. state forestry observations say the brushfire that started this began yesterday. although it has now been contained, it's already burned 62 acres and is now responsible for one of the worst wrecks the state has ever seen. investigators have still not said if the fire was intentionally set but a state forestry spokeswoman says there were no controlled burns in the area and no lightning. tonight interstate 75 remains closed to southbound traffic. >> our other big story also in florida this evening is tuesday's republican presidential primary. a new poll shows mitt romney

now leading newt gingrich by 11 points, 43-32 with rick santorum and ron paul far behind. jan crawford and dean reynolds are following the two leading candidates on this last frantic weekend. we begin with jan crawford who is with the romney campaign in gainseville, jan, good evening. >> reporter: well, good evening, jeff. with the polls showing that dramatic swing, everyone today is asking the same question, what happened. romney directed his answer to that right at gingrich. >> they're selling influence in washington at a time we needed people to stand up for the truth in washton. >> reporter: gingrich went on the sunday shows and blamed romney for his drop. he said chris wallace the vote will be closer than the polls suggest. >> we have a shot at winning but frankly it's upheel against the sheer weight of romney's money and negativity of his campaign. >> reporter: romney threw that back at him. >> he's on tv going from station to station complaining about what he thinks are the reasons he's had difficulty here in florida. but you know, we've got a

president who has a lot of excuses and the excuses are over. it's time to produce. >> reporter: the battle for florida has been fierce. romney and gingrich and the outside groups supporting them have hit each other hard with tough ads. >> how can we trust him on anything. >> they found him guilty of ethics violations. >> reporter: some have suggested the fight could do long-term damage to the eventual nominee. reince priebus of the republican national committee told bob schieffer the attack instead will make the nominee even stronger and pointed to democrats in 2008 as proof. >> when hillly clinton called barack obama a hypocrite and when obama said hillary clinton didn't have the moral fine tore lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier, you see what happened. hillary is now the secretary of state, barack obama is the president. i think primaries are tough. >> reporter: now if you think the primaries are tough just wait until the general election. president obama's re-election team already is attacking romney. that is just a hint of what we can expect.

now here's my colleague dean reynolds with the gingrich campaign. >> reporter: jan, with two days to go before the primary newt gingrich is lashing out at mitt romney calling him a tool of wall street, a dishonest candidate, and a massachusetts liberal that conservatives will never warm up to. >> and i am not running for president of the united states to make the wall street elite and the washington elite happy. i'm running to change both group os on behalf of the people of the united states of america. >> reporter: gingrich pocketed the endorsement of tea party favorite and former candidate herman cain last night. they'll be campaigning together on monday along with ronald reagan's son michael who is also backing the former speaker. and gingrich has won warm words if not a fallen dorsment yet from sarah palin who excoriated the republican establishment's assault on gingrich's candidacy and conservative credentials. what we saw with this ridiculous opposition dump on newt was nothing short of

stalinesque rewriting of history she posted on facebook. >> i am, in fact, the legitimate heir of the reagan movement, not some liberal from massachusetts. >> reporter: but the campaign to drive up gingrich's negatives appears to be working. a number of polls show him fading here, especially among women voters. gingrich has said the combined vote for conservatives including himself and rick santorum will beat romney in florida. and that should give republicans pause. >> when you add the two conservatives together, we clearly beat romney. and i think romney has got a very real challenge in trying to get a majority at the convention. >> reporter: gingrich says no matter what happens in florida, he's in this race until the convention and is already setting his sights on the nevada caucuses on february 4th. now gingrich is arguing that whoever wins the republican nomination will have to be able to draw a sharp contrast with the obama

administration to win in november. he said he can do that but romney can't. jeff? >> jeff: dean reynolds, thank you very much. our chief washington correspondent and host of face the nation, bob schieffer is in miami tonight for the campaign's final days. bob, always great to have you with us. i know you've spoken to newt recently. from your vantage point, what is the future hold for gingrich? >> well, i think it's going to be rough from here on in. one thing that's not going to play in his favor now, they're not going to be any more debates for a while. and he has really made a campaign on the debate stage. we've got three caucus states coming up now, not primaries. those have a lot to do with organizing and that sort of thing, which has not been where newt gingrich has made it work. gingrich claims to be stunned at the ads that romney has been unloading on him. and i'm going to tell you, they are on every 20 seconds down here, dumping on newt

gingrich. and you got to say one thing, i mean the bother of negative advertising is still there. the romney people started to go directly at newt gingrich after trying to make it about bank bam there for a while. and i mean frankly i think is working. >> jeff: should we mention that newt was also nailed by negative ads in iowa, fell back badly there and then staged a comeback, does he have another one of those comebacks in him? >> i'm to the going to-- i mean after we've seen him just basically come back from the dead twice already during this campaign, i'm to the going to count him out yet. i tell you what is going on here. and i think that sarah palin's statement on facebook where she really hit hard at romney and the ads he's putting there, the tea party is still not satisfied with mitt romney. they may come around eventually. but so far i don't think they are. and until that chasm is closed i think newt gingrich

will hang around. >> jeff: bob schieffer, thank you very much. >> you bet. >> jeff: rick santorum, we should mention, took a break from the campaign today to stay in philadelphia with his hospitalized three-year-old daughter. bela santorum has genetic condition called trisomy 18 which is typically fatal. more than 400 people were arrested overnight in oakland as police clashed with occupy supporters there. it was the first time in weeks that the demonstrations turned violent. here's lee cowan. >> reporter: the face-off with riot police began shortly after dusk saturday. an otherwise peaceful demonstration shattered. organizers of occupy oakland had announced their intention was to seize an empty building as their new base. >> we had objects that were thrown at police, bottles, rocks and metal objects thrown as police. >> reporter: by night fall t only got worse. >> they tear gassed us multiple times all day today. all we were doing was marching, nothing, we didn't throw anything. >> reporter: hundreds poured

into the streets. eventually making their way into city hall where some were seen burning an american flag and according to oakland's mayor, trashing the lobby. >> they destroyed the children's art exhibit on recycled art. >> reporter: another crowd seemed to storm a nearby ymca but some say they were only looking for refuge from police. >> there were cons one end. we turned around, there were cops on the other end. there was essentially no way out. >> reporter: it was the first display of violence in weeks. the national movement that refocused public attention on economic inequality. patienced with campout protestor is wearing thin. in the nation's capital ordered tents out tomorrow. and the crowd gathered around sounded their displeasure. >> we really don't want to break up an occupy camp because stuff gets worse. >> reporter: proof that a movement which may have been quiet is to the dormant. lee cowan, cbs news, los

angeles. >> jeff: later, a student pushback against healthy school lunches. funeral directors protesting a rash of murders in detroit, and the u.s. looks to build up its military strength in east asia. those stories when the "cbs evening news" continues. returned, mptoms my doctor prescribed dulera to help prevent them. [ male announcer ] dulera is for patients 12 and older whose asthma is not well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. dulera will not replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. dulera helps significantly improve lung function. this was shown over a 6 month clinical study. dulera contains formoterol, which increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in children and adolescents. dulera is not for people whose asthma is well controlled with a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. once your asthma is well controlled your doctor will decide if you can stop dulera and prescribe a different asthma control medicine,

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for a 30-tablet free trial offer, syria is moving closer to the country's capitol. this video is reportedly from a town just a few miles from damascus where government tanks rolled through with some of the fiercest filing is said to have taken place today. activists say dozens have been killed in the past 24 hours. nuclear inspectors have begun a three-day visit to iran. iran's president said today that western interests and israel were conspiring to provoke problems in the region. the iranian oil minister has threatened to cut oil exports. one weapon israel may consider to use against iran has crashed during a test flight. the massive drone which has an 86 foot wingspan went

down in central israel. said to be able to fly thousands of miles, far enough to put it over iranian soil. here at home the white house is shifting america's military priorities, proposing sharp cuts in the pentagon budget over the next ten years while at the same time increasing the u.s. commitment to asia. whit johnson has details. >> reporter: despite protests back home, filipino officials were in washington this week negotiating a deal that could allow the u.s. to rotate ships and additional commandos through stations in the philippines. as the pentagon starts scaling back operations in europe and the middle east, army chief of staff said friday that u.s. forces in the region will be strengthened despite looming budget cuts. >> we will increase engagement with allies and new partners in the asia-pacific region, home of seven of the ten largest armies in the world. >> countries in east asia are very worried about

increasing chinese influence, reach and perhaps even aggression. >> reporter: cbs news national security analyst juan zarate says fear of china has some asian nations turning back to uncle sam for protection, especially in the south china sea. an economic shipping hub where china has laid claim to disputed territory. >> there is a sense that we need to be there to serve as security blanket in the region. >> reporter: along with the philippines, the u.s. is looking it into possible security arrangements with indonesia, thailand and even vietnam. singapore has agreed to host navy warships. >> the united states is stepping up. >> reporter: in november, president obama announced plans to station 2500 marines in northern australia. the largest number of troops in that country since world war ii. >> our economy, virtually every job in america, it tied to the stability of this area. >> reporter: regional expert anthony cordas mann says preserving u.s. trade to and from asia is vital.

>> preserving that level of security and stability is the cost we have to pay, is actually a relatively cheap insurance policy. >> reporter: there are fewer than 100,000 american troops stationed in east asia, which is not expected to change. pentagon officials hope new technology and approve-- improved relations will make the u.s. presence felt without breaking the bank. whit johnson, cbs news, the pentagon. >> jeff: next, a motorcade of hearsts leads a protest against violence in detroit. forty years ago, he wasn't looking for financial advice. back then he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future. but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement planning

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feel the beat? murders last year and already there have been 27 homicides in january. as michelle miller reports, funeral directors fed up with the violence have taken to the streets to protest. >> by and large it's the younger people that's dying. it's killing each other. >> o'neill swanson has buried detroit residents for 54 years. these days business is booming, for all the wrong reasons. >> you will look and you will just think about the potential that these youngsters had.

just taken away. >> reporter: last sunday dozens of detroit's undertakers drove a motorcade of hearsts through the city's most violent neighborhoods. they bore a simple message from the bible, swanson lead the procession. >> these are sick of it, they don't want it, they don't want business that way. >> reporter: elaine reebus saw the hearsts in downtown detroit as she was making funeral arrangements for her son-in-law. 36-year-old derrius kendricks was a married father of five, shot and killed in front of his two sons when he tried to break up a fight. >> did you feel relieved someone is standing up. >> do you know what i felt? i felt pride, because a funeral director is coming together with his fellow funeral directors, and saying enough is enough. >> we want to send a message to the youngsters that we are concerned that someone cares.

-- if we had more jobs i think would you see a different throughout america if there were more jobs. >> reporter: swanson hopes that one day he will be the one business owner in america relieved to have fewer clients. michelle miller, cbs news, detroit. >> jeff: we are getting a new look inside the costa concordia cruise ship, pictured released show divers searching for at least 15 people believed to be missing still. the cruise had to postpone pumping oil from the liner because of rough seas. officials now say it may take until december to es frel the tuscan coast. >> ahead, finicky students balking at healthy school lunches. that story is next.

guidelines aimed at making school lunches more nutritious were announced this past week. it may seem like a welcome trend. but in los angeles, many students are calling healthier inedible. bill whitaker reports. >> reporter: while everything inside this l.a. cafeteria may be nutritious. >> it tastes bad t looks bad t doesn't even look like it's real food. >> reporter: few students

have anything good to say about l.a.'s healthier lunch menus. >> the healthier it gets, the more disgusting it is. >> reporter: some can barely describe what it is. >> it's called like a barbecue sandwich. but it kind of looks like an imitation sloppy joe. >> reporter: it wasn't supposed to be this way. for the past ten years the los angeles school district has been working to overhaul the menu. first to go, canned sodas. then came the push for fresh fruits and vegetables which today account for 19% of total spending, up from just 2% in 2005. old stand bys like corn dogs are out. turkey burgers are in. moves hailed by ucla newtitionist wendy slusser. >> it is common sense to serve a child healthy food. the big question is why aren't we all doing this. and it is because it is a shift. and where we were and change takes time. >> reporter: taking time to change is not something l.a. can afford.

school officials say one in three students is overweight or obese. so far it is healthy meals are a bust. >> usually we go to the student store and buy a bag of cheetos. cheetoes or chips, sometimes a gatorade, yeah. >> reporter: to woo stoods back the district has launched another menu makeover, a tastier menu, if says, now being tested on elementary schoolkids and their parents. >> any food that she says that is good for me, i think i'm not going to like it. >> reporter: the verdict on items like hummus and greek salad, better. >> i like the pesoli the hummus and the water. >> reporter: it's a reaction these parents did not expect. >> seriously he's shoveling it in and i have never seen him eat salad at home. >> reporter: schools nationwide this week are looking at new federal standards. >> anyone who works with kids knows that they need something other than chips and soda in their stomaches if they are going to focus on math and science.

>> reporter: l.a.'s experience shows that kids will only eat food that's good for them if it's good. bill whitaker, cbs news, los angeles. >> jeff: finally we end here tonight with something that many thought would never end, an epic match in tennis. the longest grand slam title match ever. novak djokovic and rafael nadal battling for the australian open men's title finally in the fifth set, there you go, a victory for djokovic. his third australian open title, total time five hours and 53 minutes. congratulations to both, a brilliant match. that is the "cbs evening news" tonight. later on cbs "60 minutes." i'm jeff glor. cbs news in new york. scott pelley will be reporting from florida tomorrow. good night.

of action" from the occupy movement. . a physical and fiscal cost of the most recent day of action from the occupy movement. the movement that started on wall street lives on in oakland. we set out to find out why occupy teams have relocated to the west coast. and a traffic pile-up that killed 10 people. the two ingredients that amounted to a recipe for disaster in florida. cbs 5 eyewitness news is next.